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EVIDENCE SUMMARY What Works in Pre-Primary Education Pedagogical Practices March 2022 Prepared by Dr. Kristen L. Bub for the Data and Evidence for Education Programs (DEEP) Brief Description Pre-primary education is widely This document contains the following sections: recognized as an important part of the continuum of early childhood Importance of Pre-Primary Education development (ECD). This brief summarizes research-based What Are Pedagogical Practices in Pre-Primary Education? evidence on effective, equitable, Research Findings on Effective Pre-Primary Pedagogical and inclusive instructional Practices practices for school readiness, Guidance on Effective Pre-Primary Literacy, Numeracy, with a particular focus on pre- and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Instructional Strategies literacy, pre-numeracy, and social- (Implementation Tips) emotional skills. Additional Research Needs SECTION 1: Importance of Pre- Primary Education RELATED USG AND USAID GOALS USAID defines pre-primary USAID’s programming in pre-primary education supports education as the 1–3 years of the achievement of development objectives described in organized schooling immediately the U.S. Government (USG) Strategy on International prior to primary school (typically Basic Education and in the 2018 USAID Education Policy. ages three to six) that supports This brief also supports the Foundational Skills Learning physical, social-emotional, cognitive, Agenda question 5: “What pre-primary outcomes are language, and gross or fine motor most important for ensuring improved foundational skills development and encourages self- amongst all learners in later years?” regulation and a positive approach to This publication is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was prepared by Dr. Kristen Bub of the University of Georgia under the Data and Evidence for Education Programs (DEEP), Contract No. GS-10F-0245M. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID. learning.1 Pre-primary education, marked by pedagogy that is developmentally appropriate and tailored to the age and needs of the children it serves, is widely recognized as a means to provide young children with the foundational skills they need for school readiness and school success and is considered a promising avenue for reducing social, academic, and economic inequalities across the lifespan.2 KEY TERMS The terms below reflect the way USAID uses them but there is variation in their definition across contexts. Early Childhood Development (ECD) is used to describe both the process of development and programs designed to support young children from birth through age eight. ECD programs generally include services from one or more sectors including health, nutrition, child safety, and education. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs commonly focus on meeting the developmental needs of children from birth to age six through positive and safe caregiving and cognitive stimulation. Pre-primary or early childhood education (ECE) programs commonly emphasize the physical, social, cognitive, and language skills three to six-year-olds need for school success. Preschool education programs commonly focus on educating children from age three through age six (though children as young as two can attend in some areas) by combining learning and play. Although ECCE and pre-primary or ECE programs are related in that they both address the developmental needs of young children, ECCE programs typically offer a wider range of services than pre-primary or ECE programs, which tend to focus on preparing children for formal education 3 settings. This report focuses on pre-primary education practices. Considerable evidence from high-income countries (HICs) and growing evidence from low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) supports the immediate and long-term benefits of attending at least one year of high-quality pre-primary education.4 The benefits of high-quality pre-primary education are typically even greater for learners from marginalized and vulnerable populations, who may not have the same opportunities as their peers to develop the skills, attitudes, and behaviors that prepare them for school.5 There is also evidence that pre-primary attendance supports specific school readiness skills, including language and literacy,6 numeracy,7 and social-emotional development.8 Long-term benefits include greater educational attainment, health, and wealth.9 For example, school readiness programs were associated with 1 USAID, 2018, 2021 2 OECD, 2021; USAID, 2021; Yoshikawa et al., 2018 3 OECD, 2021; USAID, 2018, 2021 4 Deming, 2009; Earle, Milovantseva, & Heymann, 2018; Grantham-McGregor et al., 2007; McCoy et al., 2017; Rao et al., 2014 5 van Huizen & Plantenga, 2018; Yoshikawa et al., 2013 6 Engle et al., 2011; Opel, Ameer, & Aboud, 2009; UNICEF, 2019 7 Aboud & Hossain, 2011; Berlinski, Galiani, & Gertler, 2009; MacDonald & Murphy, 2019; Opel et al., 2012 8 Arapa et al., 2021; Wolf et al., 2021 9 Arnold et al., 2007; Hjalmarsson & Lochner, 2011; Knudsen et al., 2006; Krafft, 2015 2 10 11 lower rates of grade repetition in Nepal and lower rates of primary school drop-out in Cambodia. Findings from a large, longitudinal study in Chile indicated that children who attended at least one year of pre-school demonstrated significantly higher math and reading scores in fourth grade.12 A recent meta- analysis of the effects of literacy interventions in LMICs, a majority of which targeted literacy instruction, suggests that programs were most effective for emergent literacy skills.13 Despite this evidence, most children in LMICs do not have access to pre-primary education and, therefore, are not prepared to begin primary school.14 USAID’s Center for Education recognizes pre-primary education as part of basic education and supports group-based programming for children ages three to six15 International organizations like the United Nations, UNESCO, UNICEF, and INEE also highly value pre-primary education, as evidenced by its centrality to their mission. Yet, access to pre-primary education programs remains inequitable and is still 16 relatively limited in LMICs. The quality of pre-primary education around the world, and especially in LMICs, is also variable and often quite poor, in part because quality indicators such as developmentally appropriate practice or warm and responsive adult-child interactions can be difficult to implement at scale without national or financial support.17 SECTION 2: What Are Pedagogical Practices in Pre-Primary Education? Broadly, pedagogical practices refer to the strategies and techniques used to support young children’s development and learning.18 These practices build on the skills children acquire between birth and age three, including trust through relationship building, communication through exposure to words, talk, gestures, and signing, emotional knowledge through emotion identification, and cooperation through play. Effective pre-primary pedagogical practices also support the development of new skills needed for school success, including letter recognition, counting, and self-control. DEFINING PRE-PRIMARY SKILLS Pre-literacy refers to a set of emergent language and literacy skills that include receptive and 19 expressive skills in signed, spoken, and tactile languages, including non-verbal communication, vocabulary, narrative skills (e.g., telling stories, knowing the order of events), the ability to identify letters, knowledge of the alphabet, print motivation (i.e., an interest in books), print awareness (e.g., handling books, understanding the direction of print), and, often, an awareness of individual sounds in words (phonemic awareness).20 10 Save the Children, 2003 11 Nonoyama-Tarumi & Bredenberg, 2009 12 Cortazar, 2015 13 Kim, Lee, & Zuilkowski, 2020 14 UNESCO, 2012, 2017 15 USAID, 2018 16 Global Education Monitoring Report Team 2020; UNICEF, 2019 17 Spier et al., 2019; Yoshikawa & Kabay, 2014; Yoshikawa et al., 2018 18 Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002 19 Tactile learning is learning from one’s own physical experience, including touch and movement. 20 Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; UNICEF, 2012 3 Pre-numeracy, or early numeracy, refers to a range of emergent numeracy skills, including expressive counting (forward and backward), recognizing number symbols, understanding quantities (e.g., this group has more or this group has less), being able to identify number patterns, and understanding the concept of adding or subtracting objects from a set.21 Social-emotional skills refers to a set of skills that includes the ability to manage emotions (typically with adult support), follow directions, sustain attention, persist at a task, establish and 22 maintain adult and peer relationships, and effectively join and contribute to groups. Curricular frameworks, or standards that clearly define expected learning outcomes, are an essential component of high-quality, pre-primary education because they can help establish values, expectations, and approaches for educational practice.23 These frameworks or standards should be informed by children’s experiences, which are rooted in their individual needs, strengths, interests, language, and culture.24 In other words, they should be child-centered rather than adult-driven. In a recent survey of OECD countries, nearly all had at least one curricular framework for three to five- year-olds that guided their pre-primary programming.25 Not all LMICs have curricular frameworks, however, which can reduce the quality of pre-primary education. Although useful for guiding learning outcomes, these frameworks commonly focus on the provision of learning experiences that support broad concepts such as knowledge acquisition, key competency and skill areas, interactions with adults and peers, and the experiences and resources offered in the classroom, rather than on specific pedagogical practices that support pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, and social-emotional skills.26 Ideally, educators should be trained on effective pedagogical practices during teacher education or certification programs, Unless clear pedagogical which are typically supported at the national level. Because practices are identified and are pedagogical practices can vary considerably across settings and directly linked with curricular contexts due to variations in needs, expectations, resources, frameworks, consistent class sizes, etc., training on effective practices at the local level is improvements in the quality of also recommended. This might include professional pre-primary education will be development sessions and printed resources for educators to challenging. take and adapt to their own classrooms or learning contexts. SECTION 3: Research Findings on Effective Pre-Primary Pedagogical Practices Though pedagogical practices differ considerably across countries, cultures, and individual settings,27 characteristics of effective pedagogy are fairly consistent. These practices include (1) nurturing and consistent relationships, (2) interactions with learning materials, (3) positive classroom environments, (4) domain-specific language (spoken and signed), and (5) pre-literacy and pre-numeracy stimulation.28 Effective 21 Ginsburg, Lee, & Boyd, 2008; National Research Council, 2001; Raghubar & Barnes, 2017 22 Denham, Bassett, & Wyatt, 2015; Raver 2004 23 OECD, 2021; Thomas, 2021 24 OECD, 2015; Tobin, Hsueh, & Karasawa, 2009 25 OECD, 2021 26 Wood & Hedges, 2016 27 OECD, 2014 28 OECD, 2015; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000 4
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